Identification of Subspecies

HEAD AND EYES

This section tilted Head and Eyes has been included to assist in the identification of the subspecies.

Each image is numbered from 001 to 010 starting with the nominate race the Grand Eclectus Eclectus roratus roratus. The Grand Eclectus has two races, the first the Seram Grand from the Indonesian island of Seram. The second is the Ambon Grand from the Indonesian island of Ambon.

The Males:

The nine male subspecies. “How many can you identify”.

The first five males, the Seram Grand, the Ambon Grand, the Vosmaer’s, the Cornelia’s and the Tanimbar Islands Eclectus all have deep orange to golden orange (depending on age) eye rings. The five remaining males, the Aru Island, the Biak Island, the New Guinea, the Solomon Island and the Australian Eclectus all have reddish to deep red eye rings, again depending on their age.

Caption 001 Seram Grand Eclectus. Susie Christian.Note: Seram Grand Eclectus (nominate race) found on the Indonesian Island of Seram. This race is smaller than the race found on the island of Ambon.

Caption 002 Ambon Grand Eclectus. Uwe BeckedorfNote: The Ambon Grand Eclectus is larger that the race found on Seram. Males are very similar in appearance apart from size.

Caption 003: Vosmaer’s Eclectus. Geoff De Cruz, Australia.Note: The Vosmaer’s Eclectus is found in the northern Maluku islands of Halmahera, Obi, Bacan and Sula, Indonesia.

Caption 004: Cornelia’s Eclectus. Martina MuellerNote: This rare subspecies is found on the Indonesian island of Sumba.

Caption 005: Tanimbar Island Eclectus. Martina Mueller.Note: The Tanimbar Island Eclectus is also a very rare subspecies. Found only on the Indonesian island of Tanimbar.

Caption 006: Aru Island Eclectus. Uwe Beckedorf.Note: The Aru Island Eclectus is the 2nd largest of the subspecies. Found on the Aru Islands Indonesia.

Caption 007: Biak Island Eclectus. Susie Christian.Note: The Biak Island Eclectus is a small subspecies that is found on the island of Biak in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua Indonesia.

Caption 008: New Guinea Eclectus. Ellen Aparicio.Note: The New Guinea Eclectus is the most common subspecies and has the largest range. Found throughout New Guinea and some offshore islands.

Caption 009: Solomon Island Eclectus. Dean Moser.Note: This smallest subspecies, the Solomon Island Eclectus is found throughout most of the Solomon Islands.

Caption 010: Australian Eclectus. Graham Taylor.Note: The Australian Eclectus is the largest subspecies and is only found in the far northeastern corner of Cape York, Australia.

The Females:

The nine female subspecies. “How many can you identify”.

The first five females, the Seram Grand, the Ambon Grand, the Vosmaer’s, the Cornelia’s and the Tanimbar Island Eclectus all have deep orange to golden orange eye rings, depending on their age. More importantly from an identifying point of view these five females have little or no blue feathering around the eye. The remaining five females, the Aru Island, the Biak Island, the New Guinea, the Solomon Island and the Australian Eclectus all have creamy white to pale lemon eye rings. All these five remaining females have varied amounts of the blue feathering surrounding the eyes, with the Solomon Island the most distinctive of these.

Caption 001: Seram Grand (nominate race).Note: This head and eye shot is of the female Grand Eclectus Eclectus roratus roratus the nominate race. Found on the Indonesian island of Seram. This subspecies has little or no blue feathering around the eye.

Caption 002: Ambon Grand Eclectus. Graham Taylor.Note: This race of the Grand Eclectus is found on the Indonesian islands of Ambon and Buru.

Caption 004: Cornelia’s Eclectus. Martina Mueller.Note: This rare subspecies is only found on the Indonesian island of Sumba. Its overall red appearance is unique.

Caption 005: Tanimbar Island Eclectus. Martina Mueller.Note: Also regarded as rare, the Tanimbar Island Eclectus is the second subspecies that has an overall red appearance and is found on the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia.

Caption 006: The Aru Island Eclectus.

Note: The Aru Island Eclectus is the 1st of the subspecies to have the blue feathering around the eye. Found on the Indonesian islands of Aru.

Caption 007: Biak Island Eclectus. Susie Christian.Note: This subspecies is found on the Indonesian island of Biak off the north west coast of West Papua in Cenderawasih Bay.

Caption 008: The New Guinea Eclectus. Graham Taylor.Note: The New Guinea Eclectus is the most common of all the subspecies. It is found over most of the mainland of the large island of New Guinea. Also found on coastal islands.

Caption 009: Solomon Island Eclectus. Dean Moser.Note: The Solomon Island Eclectus is the smallest of the nine subspecies. This subspecies is identified by the amount of blue feathering around the eye. Found throughout the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Caption 010: The Australian Eclectus Parrot. Graham Taylor.Note: The Australian Eclectus is the largest of the subspecies. Found in Cape York far North Queensland at an area know as Iron Range.